Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir

James Hetfield, with whom many years ago Mustaine founded a band known as Metallica, once observed, with some incredulity, that Mustaine must have been born with a horseshoe up his ass. That's how lucky he's been, how fortunate he is to be pulling breath after so many close calls. And Hetfield is right. Mustaine has been lucky. He has been blessed. But here's the thing about having a horseshoe lodged in your rectum: It also hurts like hell. And you never forget it's there.

Publisher's Summary

Dave Mustaine is the first to admit that he's bottomed out a few times in his dark and twisted speed metal version of a Dickensian life.

Impoverished, transient childhood? Check.

Abusive, alcoholic parent? Check.

Mind-fucking religious weirdness (in his case the extremes of the Jehovah's Witnesses and Satanism)? Check.

Alcoholism, drug addiction, homelessness? Check, check, check.

Soul-crushing professional and artistic setbacks? Check.

Rehab? Check (seventeen times, give or take).

Near-death experience? Check that one, too.

James Hetfield, with whom many years ago Mustaine founded a band known as Metallica, once observed, with some incredulity, that Mustaine must have been born with a horseshoe up his ass. That's how lucky he's been, how fortunate he is to be pulling breath after so many close calls. And Hetfield is right. Mustaine has been lucky. He has been blessed. But here's the thing about having a horseshoe lodged in your rectum: It also hurts like hell. And you never forget it's there.

Mustaine has battled through it all to achieve dizzying heights. From the early, heady days of Metallica, being unceremoniously let go only to become a world-famous rock star - founder, front man, singer, songwriter, and guitarist (and de facto CEO) for Megadeth, one of the most popular bands in heavy metal - Mustaine's is a story that will inspire, stun, and terrify.

Great, great ,great... Excellent story for any/all Megadeth and Metallica fans or just metal/music fans in general. Great story full of all the details of Daves life. Alot about his Metallica days.. The Narrator sounds similar to Dave and does a great job. Very easy to listen to. I couldn't stop listening.. I have bought close to 60 books from audible.com and this is one of the best.. I also suggest Scar tissue from anthony keidis. I wish audible.com would get more heavy metal biographies. This one was awesome!!! Dave ROX!!!! Mike in Boston

I never liked Dave Mustaine, he always came across as kind of a jerk. This book confirmed all of my suspicions but also makes him a very sympathetic character. A lot of times he's his own worst enemy and he comes close to admitting that but in the same breath always manages to blame someone else. He's an alpha male rock star and being a jerk comes with the territory but Megadeth backs it up with a career filled with legendary songs. He has lots of great stories about Metallica, Megadeth, and the many people who came and left the band. He's very open and upfront about his substance abuse and the difficulties it caused. A lot of unintentional humor comes from hearing him tell a story and then imagining how other people in the room saw the same story play out but drew very different conclusions. The man is a legend but he's also the neglected kid who lashes out at everyone because he learned early on that no one was looking out for him so he would have to do it himself.

What did you like best about this story?

All the stories about early bands, Metallica, and all the Megadeth stories.

Which character – as performed by Tom Wayland – was your favorite?

Dave Mustaine. He does Dave better than Dave does Dave.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Angry Again

Any additional comments?

The narration is incredible. Tom Wayland sounds like Dave Mustaine and he delivers the stories with the intensity and righteousness that they deserve. I always liked Megadeth's music but never liked Dave himself. This book really helped me understand who he is and where he came from and why he is the way he is and it has a lot of great stories about the various band line-ups and the trials and tribulations of touring while addicted to drugs. I've read/listened to many musician autobiographies and this is one of the best.

I will preface this by saying I am a huge Megadeth fan and have been since the late 80's. This book is an uncut, gritty look into the business of rock and roll and Dave does not pull any punches here. He gives a brutally honest look at his life from a very young age through the inception of Megadeth including all the ups and downs it took to get where he is today. The book was a roller coaster of emotions ranging from hysterical laughter to sadness and despair. This book puts a lot of the pieces together for you on the history and reasons behind some of the untold Megadeth madness that you don't get to hear as a typical fan. I have always loved Megadeth and respected Dave as an artist and this book only elevated my respect for him. This is a true story of redemption and a reminder that no matter how far you have fallen, there is always hope.

Tom Wayland did an unbelievably good job narrating, he was the next best thing to Mustaine himself reading. I blow through a lot of audible books and he was truly excellent.

Loved this - I really had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't listening to Dave himself read these memoirs, the narrator captures every nuance of his voice superbly.
These memoirs are insightful and brutally honest, revealing a very intelligent, articulate - if not somewhat self-obsessed - man who is for the most part misunderstood.
It was a pleasure getting to know the man behind the music.

If you know anything about Dave Mustaine, you probably know something about his early childhood, the story of the Metalica betrayal, the frequent trips to rehab, etc.

But in this book, all of Dave's most meaningful moments - from childhood all the way through 2009 - is assembled and presented in a very honest and naked format. Although the narrator occasionally imposed his own influence on the story (e.g. heavy inflection on certain words can change the emotional intensity of a sentence or word), the description of important events of Dave's life and career provide a smorgasboard of psycho-analysis opportunities.

You get the facts from his side, but of course, there are other sides. And there are also plenty of different ways to interpret the events that Mustaine describes in sometimes painful detail, leaving you to wonder "why did he....?"

And in the process, you get the opportunity to see a man. A man neither evil nor saintly - never trying to portray himself as one or the other. Proud but not condescending. A man not so different than anyone else, with great strengths and weaknesses, with tremendous triumphs and agonizingly painful falls, who had to find his place in the world. His path is not the path most of us would take - and probably a path many couldn't survive. But it's an amazing listen. Since I take in audio books only when I drive or fly, I found myself looking for excuses to get on the road and take in the next few chapters.

I have always wondered what really happened to the destruction of Dave Mustaine and this book answered it all. I am glad the narrator sounds just like Dave, it was ad if Dave was speaking directly to you.

I had no idea how bad it was for Dave growing up and it further explains his behavior through the years. I really appreciate how open and honest he is about his life. I have truly come to admire him and his accomplishments.

This is definitely worth the money and the credit. I plan on listening to this again!!

The performance by Tom Layland is spot on, at times you swear Dave is reading it.

He has quite a story to tell, going from a 15 year old living on the streets to creating a music genre. You get the sense that he really needed to tell his side of the Metallica feud. It is amazing how much of his life was fueled by getting kicked out of that band. He doesn't gloss over the embarrassing parts. I gained a lot of respect for him from this book. Its a fun listen...highly recommend it.

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